Supreme Court BANS transgender athletes from sports handing Trump culture war victory

By BREANNE DEPPISCH, US SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER Published: 15:03, 30 June 2026 | Updated: 15:15, 30 June 2026 The Supreme Court on Monday upheld two state laws banning transgender athletes who identify as women from competing on girls’ and women’s sports teams in a major win for President Donald Trump. The high-profile ruling, which allows schools in two states to determine eligibility for women's and girls' sports teams based on the gender they are assigned at birth, is expected to have widespread implications for the rest of the country.  Trump seized on transgender issues as he campaigned for a second White House term in 2024, and vowed to punish doctors who provide gender-affirming care to minors.  His campaign notably spent $11 million on campaign ads targeting then-Democratic Presidential nominee Kamala Harris's transgender policies.  ‘The left-wing gender insanity being pushed at our children is an act of child abuse,’ Trump said in a Truth Social video posted ahead of the 2024 elections. ‘ Very simple,’ he added. ‘Here’s my plan to stop the chemical, physical and emotional mutilation of our youth.’ In January, the Supreme Court heard nearly four hours of oral arguments in the cases.  They centered on the legality of two state laws in Idaho and West Virginia law, which prohibit female-identifying transgender athletes from playing on sports teams that match their gender identity.  University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas and Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines tied for 5th in the 2022 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships Riley Gaines emerged as the face of the anti-trans in womens' sports issues. She swam against trans athlete Lia Thomas Protesters are seen outside the Supreme Court as it weighs state efforts to ban transgender athletes from participating in girls' and women's sports teams  Lower courts had struck down both the West Virginia and Idaho laws, ruling that they violate Title IX and the 14th Amendment's Equal Protection Clause of the US Constitution, respectively— prompting the GOP-led states to appeal the matter to the Supreme Court for review. Justice for the Supreme Court's conservative majority seemed inclined to side with the states during oral arguments and let their laws remain in place, including Justice Brett Kavanaugh and Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who seemed to indicate unease about the federal judiciary weighing in on a state issue. Idaho’s law, enacted in 2020, known as the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act, imposed a flat ban on transgender women and girls from participating in women’s and girls’ sports teams in public schools at all levels, ranging from elementary school to college. Hernandez jumped a foot higher than the nearest rival in a recent long jump competition Protesters gather outside the Supreme Court as justices weigh two state laws banning transgender athletes from participating in women's and girls' sports teams  West Virginia, meanwhile, passed its Save Women’s Sports Act law in 2021. It bars transgender women and girls from participating in women’s and girls’ sports teams in public secondar15202889y schools and public colleges. Just last month, a controversial transgender high school track star blew the competition away in three events at a competition in California. AB Hernandez, who was born male, won the girl's high jump, long jump and triple jump events at Saturday’s California Interscholastic Federation’s (CIF) Southern Section Track and Field Masters meet at Moorpark High School in Ventura County. Infamous trans athlete Lia Thomas, a biological male who identifies as female, has become the face of the movement, speaking out against Trump and the administration. Thomas competed for the University of Pennsylvania women's team in 2021-22 and won a national championship after previously being on the men's team. She competed against now-conservative activist Riley Gaines.  Riley Gaines, a conservative political activist, speaks outside the Supreme Court before justices hear oral arguments in two cases involving GOP laws on transgender athletes in sports  Trans competitor Hernandez dominated the long jump, triple jump and high jump events Lia Thomas has slammed campaigners who try to keep trans athletes out of women's sports Her participation was a significant moment in the debate around transgender athletes, with female competitors sympathizing with Thomas but unhappy at sharing a locker room with her and questioning how fair it was to be racing her.  In turn, it made Thomas one of the athletes most closely associated with the heated debate on both sides. 'You don't get to pick and choose when you see me as a woman,' Thomas previously said. 'You don't get to say, "You can be a woman in these situations, but not in these" because you would never do that to a cis woman.  The comments below have been moderated in advance. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. 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